Bridging plug



Aug- 14, l945 G. F. TURECHEK 2,382,455

BRIDGING PLUG- Filed Jan. 20, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN OR Gio/@Gf-ZZ//Gff/r BY @M um ATTORNEY y G. F. TURECHEK Aug. 14, 1945.

2 sheets-shea 2 lNvENoR Gfo/ecf @ef-Chix m ATT RNEY BRIDGING PLUG FiledJan. 20, 1942 i ,Patented Aug. 14, 1945 FFlcE BRIDGING PLUG George F.Turechek, Los Angeles, Calif., assignor to Lane-Wells Company,corporation of Delaware Los Angeles, Calif., a

Application January 20, 1942, Serial No. 427,457

6 Claims.

My invention relates to bridging plugs; that is, to devices which arelowered into a well casing to plug or close the casing at some pointabove the bottom of the well. Among the objects of my invention are:

First, to provide a bridging plug which sets or locks against movementin either direction and which incorporates a packing element tocompletely close and seal the casing;

Second, to provide a bridging plug which includes a novel slip and coneor wedging arrangement employing two sets of slips wherein a minimumaxial movement of the slips along the casing wall is required in orderto move the slips from their initial or retracted position to their setor locked position, and virtually no axial movement of the slips isrequired after engaging the casing to bring both sets of slips intolocking engagement;

Third, to provide a bridging plug having confronting wedge members soarranged that slips mounted on each of the wedge members are urged intooperating position by abutment shoulders provided on the-other wedgemember, so that as the wedge members are moved axially toward each otherthe slips are expanded;

Fourth, to provide a Ibridging plug which is so designed that the partsmay be made of easily drillable or friable material, so that it may bedrilled up if it is desired to remove the bridging plug; and l Fifth, toprovide abridging plug which is particularly designed to be lowered onva wire line and set by a wire line operated setting tool such Iasdisclosed in Patent No. 2,266,382 issued Deer '111- ber 16, 1941.

With the above and other objects in view, as may appear hereinafter,reference is directed to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is an elevational view of my bridging plug as it appearsinitially when being lowered into a well casing;

y Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal sectional viewthereof taken through 2 2 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken through 3-3 ofFigure 2, showing particularly the clutch ring or locking ring;

Figure 4 is another transverse sectional view taken through 4 4 ofFigure 1, showing particularly the slips and their expander Wedges;

Figure 5 is an end elevational view of one of the segmental `retainerrings for the packing sleeve with one of the segments removed;

. modified slip members.

My bridging plug includesva mandrel or body 1, showing the bridging plugset within a casing, the casing being shown fragmentarily and insection;

Figure '7 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional View thereof takenthrough 'l-l of Figure 6;

Figure 8 is a transverse sectional ,view thereof taken through 8-8 ofFigure 6, showing particularly the arrangement of the slips and theirwedging members; f

Figure 9 is a fragmentary longitudinal sectional view similar to Figure'7 showing a, modied form of slip and wedging means, the view beingtaken substantially through 9-9 of Figure 10;

Figure 10 is a transverse sectional view thereof taken through Ill-I0 ofFigure 9; and

Figure 11 is an Lelevational view of one of the I which is tubular inform but `is closed at its lower end by a head member 2. rThe mandrel Iis connected by a shear pin A or other suitable means to a setting toolmember B, indicated fragmentarily in Figure 2. 'I'he head member 2 maybe' provided with equalizing or circulating valves such as shown inPatent No. 2,249,172 issued July 15, 1941. u .y y

'I'he upper end of the y.head member 2 forms a conical shoulder 3 aroundwhich ts a segmental retainer ring 4 comprising a series of segmentalmembers' having circumferentially overlapping -v tongues 5 and 6 whichremain overlapped when the ring is expanded into ontactwith the casing,as shown in Figure 6. The retainer ring 4 is providedwith an annulargroove l which. receives a tie wire 8 for initially holding` thesegments comprising the ring around the mandrel I. .One end of the ringis shaped toconform to the conical shoulder 3 while the otherend of thering is provided with an inner bevel 9 yand an outerbevel Ill whichcoact with a similarly beveled end of a packing sleeve II. The packing`sleeve is more fully disclosed in `Patent No.'2,249,1'71 issued July15, 1941. 'I'he upper end of the packing sleeve y' coacts with a secondsegmental retainer ring 4.

Figure 6 is an elevational View similar to'Figure 55 Above the packingsleeve the mandrelreceives a pair of slip expanders I2 and I3. Y 'I'helowermost slip expander I2 forms at its lower end-a conical shoulder I4similar to the shoulder 3 which coacts with the upper segmental retainerring'd.

Ther slip expanders I2 land I3 are provided with conical Wedgingportions I5 and I6, respectively, which converge toward v,each other.`These portions are provided with axially directed slots Il and I8,respectively, which form corresponding axially directed tongues AI9 and20. The tongues Y expanders. v`

i I ofthe of theupperpxpander and at' into the slots Il` abutting thelower 'extremities thereof( When the slip expanders are moved axially-to-` ward each: other the lower slip expander urges the slips 22 of theupper slip expander upwardly and outwardly thereon and. similarly, theupper slip expander urges the slips oil-the` lower slip exj` v' panderalong the tongues I9.

The slips 2| and 22 'overlap axially when in their initial position andare provided with channels 23 which align circumferentiaily so that asingle tie wire 24 may be wrapped 'around both sets of. slips to holdthem against their respective As best shown in Figures 2 and '1, theslip 2l has saw-tooth shaped serrations facing in a direction away fromthe tapering surface I of the slip expander` I2 and the slip 22 hassimilarly shaped serrations which face in a direction away from thetapered surface I8 of the slip expander Il. By this arrangement anytendency toward axial movement of the plug after setting of theslipswill tend to cause further expansion of the slips.

A sleeve 25 is screw-threaded to the upper slip expander I S'and definestherewith an internal channel 28 which receives a clutch ring or lockingring 2l. The clutch ring is provided with internal teeth which areadapted to coact with corresponding teeth 28 provided onthe mandrel whenthe slip expander I3 is forced downwardly thereon in the course ofexpanding the slips and packing sleeve. In order to prevent accidentalmovement of the slip expanders I2 and I3 these may be initially securedto the mandrel by shear pins 29.

Operation of my bridging plug is as follows:

- The bridging plug is lowered by any suitable setting tool capable ofpulling upwardly on the mandrel IA and forcing downwardly on the sleeve25. Upon being lowered to the desired position, they bridging plug isset by pulling upwardly on the mandrel and forcing downwardly on thesleeve 28. This compresses the packing sleeve until the shear pins 2|give way. thereupon the slip expanders move toward each other, breakingthe tie wire 2l.

I'he packing sleeve, in compressing, exerts sufilcient forceon thesegmental 4retainer rings l to cause these rings to expand outwardlyagainst the casing as shown in Figure 6. The retainer rings, when soexpanded, serve to prevent axial now of the material comprising thepacking sleeve. In this connection, it should be noted that the vpacldngsleeve is made oi' rubber or, i

. more preferably. neoprene, or similar rubberlike material unaected bywell fluids. However, it is known that these materials have a tendencyto .cold flow" and it is desirable to close the space at the end of thepacking sleeve as much as possible.

It will benoted thatthe slips are guided Oriv both sides, as well astheir ends, by the slots in which they fit, so that they remain substantially equally spaced around the bridging plug, as shown in Figure 8. Itwill also be noted that .itisnotneeessaryforeithersetofslipstoslidealong the casing before the other set of slips come into contacttherewith, but both sets of slips come into contact with the casingvirtually 5 simultaneously. This assures adequate engagement by bothsets of slips so that the bridging plug is securely locked againsteither upward or downward movement, and even though the forces Fagainstt,thlebridglns' plug, should alternate so V-:that the j 'pressureisfirst in one direction and then yin" the'other there is no appreciableplay or slack to cause the bridging plug to work loose.

Reference is now directed to Figures 9, 10 and `:ll-z 'I'he structurehere illustrated is essentially l5 thesame asv the previously describedstructure, "with exception that the wedging cones 3| are not providedwith ytongues and slots; instead, the

slips s2 are provided with tongues u, ss shown in Figure 11. The slipsaz are initially positioned so that the tongues of one set of slips lltbetween 'the tongues of. .'the other set of slips. The upper coneengages the extremities of the tongues of the lower set of slips, whichthe lower cone engages the tongues of the upper set of slips. With thisarrangement a greater slip area may be provided than is possible in theilrst described struc-v ture, for the slips being axially displaced mayoverlap circumferentially, as shown in Figure 10. 'I'he slips. asin thefirst described structure. are provided with channels 34 whichreceivetie wires 35. i

Operation of the structure shown in Figures 9, 10 and 11 is the same asin the first described structure, that is, each cone performs twofunctions: it coacts with its own set of slips and at the. same timeurges the other set of slips upon the other cone. The slips preferablycompletely fill the circumference of the bridging plug so that theyserve to hold each other in position; that is, the tongues of one set ofslips are guided by the other set of slips.

Various changes and alternate arrangements may be made within the scopeof the appended claims, in which it is my intention to claim all noveltyinherent in the invention.

f I claim:

l. A well tool comprising a mandrel. a pair of slipexpanding membersmounted thereon, each including a plurality of spaced axially directedslip-expanding elements tapering toward the other slip-expanding memberand defining therebetween a plurality of axially directed slots, saidmembers positioned so that the elements of each slidably ilt into theslots of the other, a tapered slip in each slot of each member andresting partially on the tapered element of the other expanding memberextending into the slot, means for moving said members axially 4towardeach other, each of said members engaging the slips riding upon theelements of the other of said members for urging said slips therealonginto expanded position as said members are moved axially'toward eachother, and a tie-band for initially holding said slips in retractedposition 0n the expanding members.

2. A well tool comprising: a mandrel; a pair of slip-expanding membersvmounted thereon, each including a plurality of axially directedslipexpanding elements deiining therebetween a plurality of slots whichterminate in abutment shoulders at their radially inner ends, saidslip-ex-A pending members positioned so that the elements of oneslip-expanding member iit into the slots of the other; a slipcomplementary to each element and, adapted to ride thereon. each slipiltting into assaut 3 the corresponding slot of the other slip-expandingmember restrained by the sides of its said slot against circumferentialdisplacement and urged by its abutment shoulders axially along anelement of said slip-expanding members as said members are moved axiallytoward each other; and meansffor holding said slips in contact with saidelements.

3. A well tool comprising ,a mandrel, a nrst slip-expanding member and asecond slip-ex- 'l0 panding member mounted on said mandrel, saidslip-expanding members each having a transverse abutting surface and anaxially tapering A surface, said tapering surface and abutting surfaceof one slip-expanding member facing the l5 abutting surface and taperingsurface of the other slip-expanding member, a'pair of adjacentwedgeshaped slips positioned around said mandrel intermediate saidslip-expanding members, one of said slips having a base portion inabutting relation to the abutting surface of said first slipexpandingmember and having a single tapered portion complementary to andpositioned to ride the tapered surface of said second slip-expand ingmember, the other of said slips having a base portion in abuttingrelation to the abutting surface of said second slip-expanding memberand having a single tapered portion complementary to and positioned toride the tapered surface of said iirst slip-expanding member wherebysaid slips are moved longitudinally in opposite directions and expandedwhen said slip-expanding members are moved axially toward each other,and yieldable means for initially holding said slips in a retractedposition around said mandrel.

- 4. A well tool comprising a mandrel, a rst slip-expanding member and asecond slip expandingmember mounted on said mandrel, each of saidslip-expanding members having a transg face respectively of oneslip-expanding member facing the abutting surface and tapering surf facerespectively of the `other slip-expanding member, a pair of sets ofcircumferentially spaced wedge-shaped slips positioned intermediate saidslip-expanding members, each slip of one of` said sets having a baseportion in abutting relation to said abutting surface on said firstslipfexpand- Y ing member and having a single tapered portioncomplementary to and positioned tn ride the tapering surfacel on saidsecond slip-expanding member, and each slip of the other of said setshaving a base portion in abutting relation to said abutting surface ofsaid second slip-expanding member and having a single tapered portioncomplementary to and positioned to ride the tapering surface of saidfirst slip-expanding member, means for moving said slip-expandingmembers axially toward each other for expanding said slips, andyieldable means for initially holding said `slips in retracted positionaround said'mandrel.

5. A'well tool according to claim 3 in which said slips carry saw-toothshaped serrations facing in a direction away from the tapering surfaceof the slip-expanding member upon which it rides, whereby axialreciprocation of said tool after expansion of said slips will tendfurther to expand said slips. Q

6. A well tool according to claim 4 in which said slips carry saw-toothshaped serrations facing in a direction away from the tapering surfaceof, the slip-expanding member upon which it rides,

whereby axial reciprocation oi' said tool after expansion of said slipswill tend further to expand said slips.

' GEORGE F. TURECHEK.

